Chapter 29

Chapter 29: A Mission Arrives

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Two days later, in Mo Yanshao’s office...

The quantum encrypted video conferencing system of the National Order Council was on.

A man in his mid-30s appeared on the video conferencing system in front of Mo Yanshao. He had a head full of white hair, yet his appearance was unusually handsome.

Mo Yanshao was frowning as he listened to the man detailing the situation.

“Within the province, the situation is the same as Xinchuan City. The Devil’s Eye rituals are popping up in increasing density. This is not a good sign. Two hours ago, in a rented house in Xinchuan City, we discovered the second Devil’s Eye. The victims were a family of six who was renting the house. It had been more than 24 hours since the victims met their fate. Before they died, they were under the effects of the technique that sharpened the senses.

“Judging from the comprehensive analysis of the site, this Devil’s Eye that appeared in Xinchuan City should have been set up by the same member of the Devil’s Eye that set up the one in Xianghe City a few days ago. The current situation is dire. The Devil’s Eye is conducting large-scale operations in the Great Flame Republic.”

Xinchuan City was the capital of Yizhou Province. It was more than 300 kilometers away from Xianghe City and was the commercial and cultural center of Yizhou Province. It had a larger population and had a more developed economy than Xianghe City. The provincial branch of the National Order Council in Yizhou Province was naturally established there.

“You mean to say that that member of the Devil’s Eye has already left Xianghe City and arrived in Xinchuan, is a serial criminal, and that this is a group operation by the Devil’s Eye?” Mo Yanshao scowled.

“I am not implying it. It is the conclusion drawn by headquarters after analysis,” the man emphasized.

“This will be troublesome.”

The man continued, “From the information and reports from headquarters, in the last two weeks, the activities of the members of the Devil’s Eye have become frequent in the Great Flame Republic. Aside from the Yizhou Province, the other provinces have also recently found many cases of the Devil’s Eye ritual. The number of victims in the last two weeks has already reached several hundred.”

“That’s why I said that in the near future, the situation appears bleak. The risk of dimensional invasions and their frequency is increasing. Xianghe City will most likely face a dimensional invasion of an even larger scale.”

“Hmm, the Devil’s Eye is up to something big. The provincial branches and headquarters have already killed some members of the Devil’s Eye who had their whereabouts exposed. However, their movements have not stopped. Their hidden members have been called to act. There might be more than one of their members hiding in Xianghe City. You had best be prepared.”

Mo Yanshao said, “Yes, it has not been peaceful in Xianghe City for the past few days as well. These past few nights, while we were igniting the light, we kept discovering bizarre divine power waves. However, by the time we rushed over to the scene, we found nothing. They are testing us. The number of missing persons’ cases that have been reported to the police in Xianghe City has also recently skyrocketed. The numbers are somewhat unusual. We are already looking into it, but are unable to ascertain as to whether it is the work of a member of the Devil’s Eye or whether members of other groups have managed to infiltrate the city.”

For ordinary people, everything in Xianghe City was peaceful. However, for those at the center of all this commotion, the bizarre occurrences in Xianghe City had never ceased.

These bizarre occurrences were not reported by the media. Ordinary people would not know about them. For a metropolitan like Xianghe City with a population of over a million as well as large numbers of tourists, no one would notice if one or two people went missing each day.

“Aside from the Devil’s Eye, other forces, organizations, and individuals who picked up the scent of the aura might also arrive in Xianghe City,” the man added. “They can sense the strange movements of the Devil’s Eye recently. They might even know of the most recent ritual of the Devil’s Eye and might be ready to make their own moves.”

“I know. If these forces and organizations only wish to kill dimensional invasion creatures and salvage boundary beads, that wouldn’t be a problem. If we discover targets who threaten the order of Xianghe City, we will show no mercy,” Mo Yanshao said as his voice turned cold. It contained murderous intent.

“By the way, I heard that you have a new recruit who perfectly merged with a divine fire boundary bead. I believe he was called Xia Ping’an and was someone you managed to find?” the white-haired man asked as he suddenly changed the subject.

“Hmm, he also completed merging with the divine altar boundary bead yesterday morning and also obtained the Requiem Banner. I have already reported this to the provincial branch.”

After Mo Yanshao ended the video call, he was in deep thought for a moment. Then, he took out a remote control and pressed a few buttons.

The live recording of the situation in the multipurpose training ground immediately appeared on the screen in Mo Yanshao’s office.

On the screen, Xia Ping’an was dashing through the 400 meters military obstacle course in the multipurpose training ground. His speed was astonishing. He advanced like a cheetah. He ran, leaped, climbed over, planked, balanced, and crawled under different obstacles quickly.

Two days ago, the result of Xia Ping’an’s second physical assessment had been announced.

He ran 100 meters in 8.46 seconds.

He ran 10,000 meters in 21 minutes and 38.56 seconds.

He could squat 510 kg, bench press 175 kg, deadlift 385 kg, hanging leg lift 92 kg; and his sweeping kick could deal 950 kg of force.

Compared to his results from the first assessments, clearly, Xia Ping’an’s physical abilities had improved once again after merging with the second boundary bead. Let alone ordinary people, even top athletes among the ordinary people could not achieve such results. Xia Ping’an’s extraordinary strength as a summoner had begun to show.

Exactly because Xia Ping’an had such incredible physical fitness, he could now advance through the military obstacle course as casually as walking on a flat surface.

The 400-meter military obstacle course in the multipurpose training ground was more hardcore than normal ones.

The ordinary military obstacle course usually had eight sets of obstacles, including pillar hopping, ditches, traverse walls, box jump pyramids, monkey bars, balance beams, high walls, and wire crawls. However, the course in the multipurpose training ground had additional obstacles on top of the usual ones. Some of the obstacles included cargo net climbs, log carries, pole climbing, rock climbing, and swimming.

Moreover, the difficulty level of all the obstacles was higher than in an ordinary military obstacle course. Participants also needed to endure the disturbance of high-pressure water cannons while going through most of the obstacles.

In the activity of pillar hopping, one of the easiest obstacles, usually, the pillars would not be higher than 0.5 meters and had a diameter of around 0.3 meters. Instead, on the multipurpose training ground, the pillars were 4 meters off the ground and had a diameter of 0.15 meters. The pillars became true quincuncial piles, and high-pressure water cannons were spraying from the sides.

Passing through one level of pillar hopping was like stepping on the bottom of beer bottles at the height of a one-story building while avoiding people throwing rocks at the same time. The physical fitness requirements to complete the task were obscene.

These past two days, aside from practicing at the shooting range, Xia Ping’an spent most of his time training alone at the multipurpose training ground’s obstacle course without any distractions.

Xia Ping’an’s training was very tough. In Mo Yanshao’s eyes, he always felt as though Xia Ping’an had something indescribable about him. Aside from shooting, Xia Ping’an trained with all his might in these events. It was as though he was training so that he could escape faster to save his life.

As for the Black Cobra steel whip that Big Zhou gave Xia Ping’an, Mo Yanshao had never seen Xia Ping’an train with it.

After Xia Ping’an finished running two rounds and was covered in sweat from head to toe, Mo Yanshao immediately sent Xia Ping’an a message asking him to come to his office.

After 10 minutes, Xia Ping’an appeared in Mo Yanshao’s office dressed smartly.

“Director, did you want to see me?”

“I have a special mission for you,” Mo Yanshao said directly once Xia Ping’an entered the office.

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